Saturday, January 22, 2011

The last time Chula Vista appointed someone to the port commission it accepted applications for a month, narrowed the field to three finalists and conducted public interviews.

Last week it allowed its commissioner to be sworn-in as vice chairman in front of key political players across the county at the annual Port luncheon and then hours later voted him off the commission without so much as a word of warning.

Although no city policy was violated, questions about open government have been raised.

Steve Padilla, who had been filling a vacancy for just over a year on the Port District’s board of directors, was expecting to be reappointed to a four-year term as were his Port colleagues. He said he had no indication from any members on the Chula Vista City Council, that he did not have support to continue representing the South Bay city.

Instead of reappointing Padilla, the City Council appointed Ann Moore without following the same public process they went through the year before when selecting Padilla...

Comparing the Port Commissioners

Steve Padilla

•Mayor of Chula Vista from 2002 to 2006•Chula Vista City Councilman from 1994 to 2002•California Coastal Commissioner from from 2005 to 2007

Ann Moore

•Chula Vista City Attorney from 1995 to 2008•Experience in land-use, redevelopment and environmental law•Senior partner in the law firm Norton Moore and Adams

“National City’s teachers welcome the opportunity to return to the bargaining table with the district on Tuesday, Jan. 25” said National City Elementary Teachers Association (NCETA) President Linda Cartwright. “We’re hopeful that the school board is willing to bargain a fair contract now, which will include restoration of the five student instruction days so important to our students’ learning. But NCETA’s strike plans proceed, pending the achievement of a fair contract.”

NCETA members will picket in support of a fair contract at their individual school sites Tuesday morning from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m., with California Teachers Association President David A. Sanchez and CTA Board of Directors member Jim Groth joining the teachers at two nearby schools, Rancho de la Nación, 1830 E. Division Street and El Toyon, 2000 E. Division Street in National City.

Contract talks that began in National City last February broke down in July after the district refused to follow suit with the teachers in accepting a neutral fact finder’s settlement recommendations. The school board then cut five student instruction days and enacted an additional six days of pay cuts for teachers pleading fiscal necessity as justification.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Up to now, the city attorney in Chula Vista was appointed by the city council but Proposition Q — a 2008 ballot measure — changed city charter to make it an elected position and Chula Vistans will go to the polls Tuesday to choose between Glen Googins and Robert Faigin as their first elected city attorney.

With a salary of more than $200,000, the city attorney will be the highest paid position in Chula Vista city government.

Both Googins and Faigin promise to follow the rule of law, claim to be independent and accuse his opponent of being beholden to special interests trying to influence City Hall.

They see the position as an advisor, not policy maker, and share concerns expressed by members of the City Council and Proposition Q opponents that the office has the potential to become politicized and impact legal advice offered to the council and city departments.

But that’s also why both claim he should be elected, not his opponent.

“Obviously, now theoretically they’re more responsible to the people than the city council members,” said current City Attorney Bart Miesfeld, “but day to day responsibilities won’t change,” said

Faigin, a resident of Lakeside, has been the county sheriff’s chief counsel since 2002 and decided to run after members of the South County sheriff’s office told him no qualified candidates sought the position.

Googins opened his private practice handling real estate and development issues in 2004 after 11 years of similar work in the city attorney’s office. Disagreements with then City Attorney Ann Moore led Googins to resign, in the process receiving a $175,000 severance package.

Joseph Casas, the candidate endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party, dropped out of the race in March and is currently representing Police Chief David Bejarano against accusations of fraud by a former business partner.

“The downside to turning it into an elected position is that instantly the developers, Corky McMillan, all of those people start pumping money into campaigns because they want to influence city politics,” Faigin said.

By the May 27 financial filing deadline, Googins had raised $33,000 from 100 donors, including teachers, border patrol agents and city residents, but also several lawyers, real estate developers. In addition he raised nearly $1,000 from executives from The Corky McMillin Companies, including company president and CEO Mark McMillin.

Googins endorsers include the Chula Vista Police Officer and Firefighter Associations, former City Attorney John Kaheny, state assemblymember Mary Salas, County Supervisor Greg Cox and The Republican Party of San Diego County, though it is a non-partisan race.

About one-third of donors to Googin’s campaign are Chula Vista residents.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Obstacles to negotiations over the last four months were reported to include officers’ fears of having cuts forced on them if they agreed to open their contract with the city, and concerns about the attorney negotiating for Chula Vista

Chula Vista leaders and representatives of the city’s Police Officers’ Association have reached a tentative agreement that could avert pending officer layoffs, according to an officers’ association announcement.

Members of the officers’ association are expected to vote on the agreement Jan. 20. If a majority of the officers support it, the agreement would then need city council approval.

“The Chula Vista Police Officers’ Association and the City of Chula Vista have really found some common ground here,” said Lt. Phil Collum, director of communications for the officers’ association. “This isn’t a win for anybody, except – hopefully – the community of Chula Vista.”

Not all specifics of the agreement have been made public. One term of the agreement, however, is that officers will join the rest of the city's employees in paying their full pension contributions.

"Within six months, all of our employees and (elected officials) are going to pay their pension investments, and not have the taxpayers pay them," said Mayor Cheryl Cox. Chula Vista will be among the first cities in California to adopt this pension policy, she added.

In December a study funded by the officers’ association suggested Chula Vista officials dip into reserves to avoid the cuts, while the city has suggested the police contribute 9 percent toward their pension plans and agree to pay freezes.

About 20 positions are on the line. Those layoffs were originally scheduled to take place Jan. 7. They were first postponed this week and are now on hold until Jan. 24.

Thirty-two officers received layoff notices in October when the city officials first announced plans to plug a $18.5 million hole in the city budget. Since then the police department has made arrangements with the Chula Vista Elementary School District, the Sweetwater Union High School District and grantmakers to preserve about 10 positions on it’s its own, Collum said.

Obstacles to negotiations over the last four months were reported to include officers’ fears of having cuts forced on them if they agreed to open their contract with the city, and concerns about the attorney negotiating for Chula Vista...

Dear Ms. Myers:I am writing to challenge you to a public debate about what happened at Castle Park Elementary and how you used the destruction of the school as a springboard to power in CTA/NEA. For ten years, you've been making statements about me that you refused to make under oath. How about you make your allegations in public?Maura Larkins

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Photo: Clowns came to Castle Park Elementary to protest bizarre events at the school

Feb. 15, 2011 board meeting will mark 10 years since Chula Vista teacher was removed on suspicion she would "come to school and shoot everybody." The district asked the teacher to return without doing any investigation. Then the whole scenario repeated itself. The second time the teacher refused to return without an investigation.

Any day now the board should begin its investigation into Castle Park Elementary teachers and their remarkable claims. Two current board members, Pamela Smith and Larry Cunningham, have presided over the bizarre sequence of events that has brought Castle Park Elementary to near ruin over the past ten years.

The accusers, several of whom became widely known in the media as members or supporters of "The Castle Park Five," refused to answer questions at their depositions in the lawsuit of the teacher who was removed. (The teacher who was removed is the author of this blog.)

But the district itself has never done an investigation to find out the truth. It has instead spent $100,000s of tax dollars covering up the facts. Bate-stamped documents are still missing, even though a related case is now in the California Court of Appeal.